Sky Is Crying

Stevie Ray Vaughan | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 5, 1991)
• Original Release Date: November 5, 1991
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000027KO
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (57 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,924 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #11 in Music > Blues > Regional Blues > Texas Blues
  • #28 in Music > Blues > Modern Blues
  • #41 in Music > Rock > Rock Guitarists > Guitar Gods

Editorial Reviews

This CD is an out of print collectible! It is the original 1991 Epic release. Catalog #EK 47390. There is a hole punch through the UPC. Still sealed.Track Listing:1. Boot Hill2. The Sky Is Crying3. Empty Arms4. Little Wing5. Wham!6. May I Have A Talk With You7. Close To You8. Chitlins Con Carne9. So Excited10. Life By The Drop

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

78 of 87 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Life-Changing Event..., February 2, 2001

By 

Gregory Bravo (Buffalo, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sky Is Crying (Audio CD)

That's not hyperbole. Man, I still remember it. It was 1995. I was browsing in a record store and came upon this album. I didn't know who the hell it was-- it wasn't like anything I would usually buy-- but I decided to try sometehing different. I was blown right out of my pants. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I played the tape so many times in 6 months that it started to wear out. It made me want to learn to play, even though I never thought about playing the guitar before-- it was that good, that moving.

Every song on this CD is amazing. How can you talk about good and better when you've reached this level of mastery? You can't. It's like asking which van Gogh painting is your favorite. Still, could you ever buy a van Gogh for under $20?

That being said, there is one song on this CD that is maybe the best pure electric guitar ever recorded: "Little Wing" is a masterpiece among masterpieces. It has it all: such feeling in the slow sections that you cry, such blistering guitar in the power sections that you are stunned, and such subtle mastery throughout that you can hear different nuances each time you listen to the song. Just check out when and how he uses the natural harmonics-- and how he even throws in the Wes Montgomery Jazz/octave work-- each in exactly the right place. This guy wasn't just a guitar maniac-- he was a Master, with a capital "M"-- and on top of it all, he was a wonderful, caring man.

Putting "Life by the Drop" as the last song on the compilation is almost too much for me to handle-- knowing that, when that last note finishes resonating, there will NEVER be any more...

I cry every time I see his bio on MTV-- when I think about that helicopter crash.

There is something wrong with a world in which a man like this gets only 35 years.

I cry.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blues At Its Very Best!!!, August 2, 2003

By 

"baberufus" (West Jordan, UT United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sky Is Crying (Audio CD)

I believe Jimmie Vaughan was truly inspired when he chose this collection of songs for his brother's posthumous CD. It is absolutely flooring. All the other reviews for this CD shed plenty of light on the most outstanding tracks (Little Wing, Boot Hill, etc.), except I didn't see too much mention on the title track, which I want to focus on. IT IS THE BEST SLOW BLUES SOLO EVER RECORDED! I'm not kidding--I've heard a lot of blues guitar and I play myself, but on that track he hits nuances and phrasing and TONE that just makes me explode, no matter how many times I've heard it (and I've heard it lots)! He takes the five-note pentatonic blues scale and does everything possible with it! One review complained that the song sounds too much like "May I Have A Little Talk With You"--well, geez, how many slow blues songs have been recorded over the past 100 years that sound basically the same? Thousands! Each recording has its own "stamp", and that's what you've got to hone in on in order to appreciate these on-the-surface "similiar" recordings, including the two on this CD. If you think they're too similar, then you're not listening close enough!!!

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Sky IS Crying, August 20, 2001

By 

Matt "mattfl1" (FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sky Is Crying (Audio CD)

Funny how what is probably my favorite Stevie Ray Vaughan release of original material is the one that came out after he had passed away.

Basically, this is a collection of outtakes and stuff that never made it to the other studio albums. Boot Hill for example is one of the few (if not the only) examples of Stevie's slide playing, and was left off of the "In Step" album because there wasn't enough room left on it. Jimmie Vaughan put it best in the liner notes of this album when he said, "It seems like he just left...[he pauses, as though the inherent irony of the situation has just occurred to him]...this record." It just needed to be put together.

There are some awesome examples on this album of what an incredible musician Stevie Ray really was. His version of "Little Wing" contains more passionate guitar playing than a lot of guitar players put into their playing during their entire careers. That's one of my favorites, plus "Life By The Drop." If you know about Stevie's past, you'd know that song had a lot of personal meaning to him.

From me and anyone else who has ever picked up a guitar...we miss you Stevie.